Signing Arik Armstead would raise the profile of the Houston Texans offseason

It's no surprise that I and others have been beyond underwhelmed by the Houston Texans free agency entering Tuesday. The moves weren't good. Names like Joe Mixon and Azeez Al-Shaair were obvious downgrades from Devin Singletary and Blake Cashman. Then the team was filled out with a cornerback who's busted in two different cities and a defensive tackle/end who's pushing retirement. Not exactly the exciting offseason we hoped for.

Then the Texans signed Danielle Hunter, a massive star in his own right, still in his prime, and a good three-down player. The kind of guy we were hoping the Texans would sign. It seems very possible that the team may double up on tremendous A-tier caliber defensive linemen, as the team seems to have the inside track on former San Francisco 49ers defensive end/tackle Arik Armstead.

Armstead, a former first-rounder picked by the 49ers, has been released by the team after nearly a decade with them. This means that a high-quality defensive lineman, with ties to Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, is now on the market. A market the Texans clearly own a stake in, as they nearly landed him in a trade over the last few days.

Before the Hunter signing came through, the Texans were set to send Maliek Collins to the 49ers in exchange for Armstead; which would make yet another position the Texans upgraded. Yet, for whatever reason, after Hunter was signed, the trade fell apart, and the Texans just sent over Collins for a seventh-round pick.

Landing Armstead would be huge, especially if he's willing to stay at defensive tackle. He'd be able to bolster the interior line and give guys like Hunter and Will Anderson a big body who can collapse the interior of the offensive line. Something he was quite good at in San Francisco.

His potential arrival in Houston would be massive, especially with the need for not only game-changing type players, like him, but to also fortify the defensive line. After all, be it on offense, defense or special teams, it all starts on the line and Armstead's arrival in Houston would give them an elite one. At least on paper.